The children of Israel, while they were in Egypt, and in
the wilderness, were a type of God's visible Church on earth.
Moses was speaking primarily of them, but, secondarily, of
all the chosen ones of God in every age. Now, as God was the
shelter of His ancient people Israel, so is He the refuge of
His saints through all time. And, first, He was eminently
their shelter when they were under bondage and the yoke
was heavy. When they had to make bricks without straw,
and the taskmasters oppressed them, then the people cried
unto the Lord, and God heard their cry, and sent unto them
His servant Moses. So also, there often comes to men a time
when they begin to feel the oppression of Satan. I believe
that many ungodly men feel the slavery of their position.
Even some of those who are never converted, have sense enough
to feel at times that the service of Satan is a hard one,
yielding but little pleasure, and involving awful risks. Some
men cannot long go on making bricks without straw, without
being more or less conscious that they are in the house of
bondage. These, who are not God's people, under the pressure
of mind consequent upon a partial discovery of their state,
turn to some form of pleasure, or self-righteousness, in
order to forget their burden and yoke; but God's elect
people, moved by a higher power, are led to cry unto their
God. It is one of the first signs of a chosen soul, that it
seems to know, as if by heavenly instinct, where its true
refuge is.

You recollect that, although you know but little of
Christ, though in doctrinal matters you were very dark,
though you did not understand, perhaps, even your own need,
yet there was a something in you that made you pray, and gave
you to see that only at the mercy-seat could you find your
refuge. Before you were a Christian, before you could say"Christ
is mine," your bedside was the witness to many flowing
tears, when your aching heart poured itself out before God,
perhaps in strains like these: "O God, I want something;
I do not know what it is I want, but I feel a heaviness of
spirit; my mind is burdened, and I feel that Thou only canst
unburden me. I know that I am a sinner; oh, that Thou
wouldest forgive me! I hardly understand the plan of
salvation, but one thing I know, that I want to be saved; I
would arise and go unto my Father: my heart panteth to make
Thy bosom my refuge." Now, I say that this is one of the
first indications that such a soul is one of God's chosen,
for it is true, just as it was of Israel in Egypt, that God
is the refuge of His people, even when they are under the
yoke.

When captivity is led captive, the Eternal God becomes the
refuge of His people from their sins. The Israelites
were brought out of Egypt; they were free; albeit they were
marching they knew not whither, yet their chains were
snapped; they were emancipated, and needed not to call any
man Master. But see, Pharoah is wroth, and he pursues them;
with his horses and his chariots he hastens after them. The
enemy said: "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will
divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them."
Thus also there is a period in the spiritual life, when sin
labours to drag back the sinner who has newly escaped from
it. Like hosts ready for battle, all the poor sinner's past
iniquities hurry after him, and overtake him in a place where
his way is hedged in. The poor fugitive would escape, but he
cannot; what, then, must he do? You remember that then
Moses cried unto the Lord. When nothing else could be
found to afford shelter to the poor escaped slaves, when the
Red Sea rolled before them, and the mountains shut them in on
either side, and an angry foe pursued them, there was one
road which was not stopped up, and that was the king's
highway upward to the throne, the way to their God, and
therefore they began at once to travel that road, lifting up
their hearts in humble prayer to God, trusting that He would
deliver them. You know the story too, how the uplifted rod
divided the watery deeps, how the people passed through the
sea as a horse through the wilderness, and how the Lord
brought all the hosts of Egypt into the depths of the sea,
that He might utterly destroy them, so that not one of them
was left, and those who had seen them one day saw them no
more for ever. In this sense, God is the refuge of His people
still. Our sins which pursued us so hotly have been
drowned in the depths of the Saviour's blood. They sank to
the bottom like stones, the depths have covered them, there
is not one, no, not one of them left, and we,
standing upon the shore in safety, can shout in triumph over
our drowned sins, "Sing unto the Lord for He hath
triumphed gloriously, and all our iniquities hath He cast
into the midst of the sea."

While God is thus the refuge of His people under the yoke,
and when sin seeks to overcome them, He is also their refuge in
times of want. The children of Israel journeyed into the
wilderness, but there was nothing for them to feed upon
there; the arid sand yielded them neither leeks, nor garlic,
nor cucumbers; and no brooks or rivers, like the Nile, were
there to quench their thirst; they would have famished, if
they had been left to depend upon the natural productions of
the soil. They came to Marah, where there was a well, but the
water was very bitter; at other stations there were no wells
whatever, and even bitter water was not to be had. What then?
Why, the unfailing refuge of God's people in the wilderness
was prayer. Moses, their representative, always betook
himself to the Most High, at times falling upon his face in
agony, and at other seasons climbing to the top of the hill,
and there pleading in solemn communion with God, that He
would deliver the people; and you have heard full often how
men did eat angels' food in the desert; how Jehovah rained
bread from heaven upon His people in the howling wilderness,
and how He smote the rock, and waters gushed forth. You have
not forgotten how the strong wind blew, and brought them
flesh, so that they ate and were satisfied. Israel had no
need unsupplied; their garments waxed not old, and though
they went through the wilderness, their feet grew not sore.
God supplied all their wants. We in our land must go to the
baker, the butcher, the clothier, and many others, in order
to equip ourselves fully, but the men of Israel went to God
for everything. We have to store up our money and buy this in
one place, and that in the other, but the Eternal God was
their refuge and their resort for everything, and in every
time of want they had nothing to do but to lift up their
voice to Him. Now it is just so with us spiritually. Faith
sees our position to-day to be just that of the children of
Israel then: whatever our wants are, the Eternal God is our
refuge. God has promised you that your bread shall be given
and that your water shall be sure. He who gives spirituals
will not deny temporals; the Mighty Master will never suffer
you to perish, while He has it in His power to succour you.
Go to Him, whatever may be the trouble which weighs you down.
Do not suppose your case too bad, for nothing is too hard for
the Lord, and dream not that He will refuse to undertake
temporals as well as spirituals; He careth for you in all
things. In everything you are to give thanks, and
surely in everything by prayer and supplication, you may make
known your wants unto God. In times when the cruse of oil is
ready to fail, and the handful of meal is all but spent, then
go to the all-sufficient God, and you shall find that they
who trust in Him shall not lack any good thing.

Furthermore, our God is the refuge of His saints when
their enemies rage. When the host was passing through
the wilderness they were suddenly attacked by the Amalekites.
Unprovoked, these marauders of the desert set upon them, and
smote the hindermost of them, but what did Israel do? The
people did not ask to have a strong body of horsemen, hired
out of the land of Egypt for their refuge, or even if they
did wish it, he who was their wiser self, Moses, looked to
another arm than that of man, for he cried unto God. How
glorious is that picture of Moses, with uplifted hands, upon
the top of the hill giving victory to Joshua in the plain
below. Those uplifted arms were worth ten thousand men to the
hosts of Israel; nay, twice ten thousand had not so easily
gotten a victory, as did those two extended arms, which
brought down Omnipotence itself from heaven. This was
Israel's master-weapon of war, their confidence in God.
Joshua shall go forth with men of war, but the Lord,
Jehovah-nissi, is the banner of the fight, and the giver of
the victory. Thus the Eternal God is our refuge.
When our foes rage, we need not fear their fury. Let us not
seek to be without enemies, but let us take our case and
spread it before God. We cannot be in such a position, that
the weapons of our foes can hurt us, while the promise stands
good: "No weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper, and every tongue that riseth against thee in
judgment thou shalt condemn." Though earth and hell
should unite in malice, the Eternal God is our castle and
stronghold, securing to us an everlasting refuge.